[GC Insider] Decisions Have Been Made
The end of month review where I share the good, the bad and the ugly of my own creative efforts
Hello
It is a year today since I left my day job. Last week I wrote a guest post about the past twelve months on the tsCreavtiv Substack. You can read it here.
For the last few months I have been chewing over what to do about work and whether to sell an investment property I have owned for over twenty years. Decisions have been made and actioned. The property is now on the market and on Tuesday I did my first shift as a trainee barista at a well-known coffee chain in the UK.
Workwise, I wanted something part-time that does not burn my brain cells, thus leaving cerebral juice for writing. I figured that if I was going to do an ‘easier’ job, and earn less money, then it might be fun not to be sat in front of a computer.
Having sat on my posterior for the past thirty-four years of my working life it was a physically challenging shock to be on my feet for six hours straight. I haven’t been let loose on making coffee yet but it was fun to find the options on the till for all the food and coffee combinations and to interact with customers. Everyone was very kind when I said that it was my first day and ringing up their order might take a while!
I also spent a lot of the day operating the dishwasher and as part of closing and cleaning up, I had to sweep and mop the whole place, including the toilets. One could say that this is a bit of a come down for someone who used to program and troubleshoot complex financial scenarios but it feels right for now.
Everything in the past few months has been an experiment where I look at a short window of time and ‘try it and see what happens’. That’s how I started writing this Substack newsletter and now I am adding in another income stream. I’m not going to earn much compared to the past but it is okay for now. I remain open to work that I might undertake in the future including a return to working with software but this is where I am right now.
I realise that I am in a fortunate position to even be able to consider such a radical drop in income, but rest assured, I have worked very hard in the past to reach this place. It is risky and in a few years, come retirement, I might regret not earning more now.
Since making these decisions my fear has reared up and over the last two weeks I have lost quality working time through procrastination and feeling too mentally scared to get much done. I view this as resistance which occurs when you are going in the right direction, answering your soul’s calling and taking a risk. The reason I write so much about fear and resistance is because I experience so much of it!
On the writing front, early in March I finished getting down the fragments of a first draft of the third Countess novel. I say fragments because it really isn’t a cohesive story at the moment. I’ve enjoyed taking a break from this project though I plan to return to it in April. I will read through from the first book (which is already published) through the draft I have of the second book (which is in reasonable shape but still needs some work) through to the third book (which is a disaster and will need a lot more work). This should give me a plan of attack for the next phase of activity.
Growing my Substack newsletter has been fun. I’m now at 439 subscribers. I’ve picked up 67 new subscribers since I started in January which I am very proud of. I’ve also had a few people unsubscribe recently. This churn is natural and most of them have been from my old list.
It has been fun to network online with other Substack writers and figure out how to help each other grow. Last week I did an article swap with Thor Schroeder and I also have some other guest posting opportunities in the next couple of months. If you’ve been reading the Monday Accountability posts you will also know that I want to go out into the real world and give talks about writing. The aim is to direct these people into the newsletter.
I have some questions on the Monday accountability thread. Please will you hit reply and give me some very quick feedback?
1. Do you like it and is it useful to you?
2. Do you actually think of three things you might do each week towards your creative project? (It’s okay if the answer is No 😊)
3. Do you like reading about my three things?
Thanks in advance. I’m trying to figure out how best to provide value to you. If you have any other thoughts or suggestions about what you’d love to read, then let me know that too please.
Thank you for your continued support. I love it when you click the like button, write a comment or reply to me directly. It is very much appreciated and gives me reassurance that I am making the right choices for the current time.
Keep plodding gently
Cali xx
Hi Cali, I love hearing about your journey and your works in progress. It’s great that you have taken up a barista position….well done….more people should do it. I’m sure it adds value to your life and writing.
My responses:
1. Yes it’s helpful.
2.it’s good to have goals and be reminded of the goal setting processes of others.
3. Always good to hear of your progress and even lack of.
I think a writing workshop is a great idea….maybe online.
I find your missives valuable. x
Hi Cali! Here's my response:
1. Do you like it and is it useful to you? Yes, I do, and yes it is.
2. Do you actually think of three things you might do each week towards your creative project? I do when I'm responding to your thread. Otherwise I just keep a general to-do list for all my projects.
3. Do you like reading about my three things? Yes, please keep them coming!